"She's one of the Cursed," Athenodora said. Bella's brows furrowed as she focused on Athenodora. She couldn't get a read off of her and neither could the others. She showed no emotion whatsoever and the only giveaway that she was concerned was in her eyes. The blonde's eyes were completely black and Bella could have dived into them and never found a way out.
Bella glanced at Sulpicia and Didyme, searching for signs of understanding. Sulpicia had her hand raised to her chin and nodded once while Didyme look apprehensive. But both acted like this was just common knowledge.
"I thought they'd all been killed."
"I thought so too," Athenodora said.
"But Anstice," Sulpicia said.
"Anstice missed one it seems," Athenodora said quietly gazing at Bella. There was a mixture of emotions swirling beneath Athenodora's eyes now and among them was regret.
"Could someone clue us in," Alice said from beside Bella. Bella had gripped Alice's hand for comfort when Athenodora started speaking and her grip had only gotten tighter with each exchange. Alice seemed to have noticed.
Didyme turned to Bella and smiled sympathetically. It didn't quite look real. "Do you know how our kind came to be?"
Bella shook her head.
"Well," Athenodora said. "It all started with a man named Tibalt."
"In ancient Greece, when the gods still walked the Earth, there was a demigod named Tibalt. He was the son of one of the lesser gods and was half human. As such, he was never truly accepted into the realm of the gods. He became frustrated and angry. Not even his own mother would accept me. So he sought revenge.
He played as a double agent between Zeus and Hades. Hades had never forgiven Zeus for tricking him into the Underworld and Zeus knew that. Tibalt was able to play on those fears, never truly on either side, feeding them lies and deceit causing civil war among the gods. They'd nearly torn themselves apart in all the fighting. But one slip up and Tibalt was caught.
It was well known that Zeus had a temper and he nearly killed Tibalt where he stood for his deceit. But Hades stepped in offering another solution.
Tibalt's soul was split into two; one part, supernatural and the other, human. The human half, Deion, now mortal, joined the living. And the other, Timeus, was cursed to run the night living only off the life of others. He was the first of our kind.
When Zeus banished him to Earth he warned him of the consequences of tampering with Deion. And should he ever disobey Zeus's law, it would result in a fate worse than death.
Timeus listened for a time. He remained hidden from civilization and tried to stay away from humans for as long as possible. But he became weak and ill. He had to submit to his beastial instincts to survive. Timeus was commonly thought to be all of the bad aspects of Tibalt. He had received the punishment for Tibalt's misdeeds and he had to kill to survive. But he was a softhearted man. He took no pleasure from the suffering and killing of humans.
He trained himself to stop in the middle of his feeding before he killed them and he felt better. He felt his life was less of a burden, until he learned their fate. Those who he'd been strong enough to pull away from were corrupted and turned by his bite. When he learned of this, he screamed to the heavens in shame of what he did. He never wanted to harm others and he cursed Tibalt for his vengeful nature.
He promised himself to help those he cursed and he gathered them together has his family and followers. He created the first coven.
Realizing what his venom was capable of was both a blessing and a curse to Tibalt. He was now no longer alone but Timeus was haunted by thoughts of Deion. Could he possibly rejoin him if he shared his venom? He meditated and worried and marveled over the possibilities to the point where Zeus's warning was nothing but a ghost of an echo.
He set out to find Deion, leaving his coven behind and promising to return a better man. Promising to return with a solution to his curse. He found Deion in a small village near the ocean. He had created a family for himself with a wife and several children. They owned a farm and he was a simple shepherd. He looked to have a good life, far happier than Timeus's would ever be.
Timeus felt ashamed that he was willing to risk Deion's happiness for a slim chance at his own. He was preparing to leave before they saw him when he caught Deion's scent in the air. It sent him into a frenzy; Deion was his singer. He couldn't stop himself from nearly draining Deion dry. He managed to pull himself away but not before enough venom had entered Deion's veins to initiate the change.
Timeus collapsed in grief over his other half. He sobbed and clutched the lifeless body to his own in mourning as he wept only the way one who had just seen their happiness slip from their fingers could. Eventually he pulled Deion away with him into the forests watching as the change overtook his body. It took longer than usual. Five days.
At the end of five days, Deion awoke. His eyes blazed green and his fangs dipped out of his mouth. Before either man had said a word, Deion was on Timeus draining him the way a human does one of those juice pouches they are so fond of. When Deion was finished, he tossed Timeus into the sea never to be seen again. And Deion wandered the rest of his life in agony, slowly starving to death without his maker to feed from. Eventually he shriveled to dust."
Bella chanced a glance at Alice when she felt how the other woman's hand tightened around hers. Alice tried to smile at Bella but her body had gone rigid and it just turned into a grimace. Bella swallowed heavily as she returned her attention to Athenodora.
"The creature that Deion turned into was one of the Cursed. They are like vampires in all aspects but their feeding habits. They must feed from their makers or they will die as Deion did.
One of Timeus's changelings, Anstice, our maker, devoted his life to exterminating every one of Deion's descendants for fear that the curse would be passed on and threaten the exposure of our kind.
We thought he'd succeeded."
"Apparently they missed one," Sulpicia said. Bella wasn't sure but she felt that there was an underlying disgust in Sulpicia's tone and she began to feel anxious about her safety. She gripped Alice's hand and tried to take several calming breaths. She felt the world was spinning and closing in on herself. Alice sensing Bella's distress pulled the newborn around to face her. She brushed a few strands of hair from her face and locked eyes with the newborn.
"Bella," she whispered and gave her shoulders a gentle shake. "It will be okay. We don't know for sure yet that this is what you are."
"I don't know," Bella gave an exhausted laugh. "There's some pretty tough evidence against me."
"Can Cursed feed from other vampires who are not their maker," a voice said quietly from the edge of the clearing. It was Jane. She had remained unnoticed through the entire exchange, contemplating all that was being said. "If Cursed can only drink from their makers then why was Bella trying to feed on Didyme?"
Jane brought her eyes down from the treetops she'd been examining and raised an eyebrow. Didyme scowled slightly but conceded it was a good point.
"I don't know," said Athenodora.
"Regardless," Didyme said stepping in. "None of this changes anything. Bella is our mate. We are not going to kill her because she may or may not be some mythical creature." Didyme sent a knowing eye towards her sisters who were remaining suspiciously unaffected.
"We will talk about this later," Athenodora said quietly. "We should return to the castle."
"Bella," Alice said softly. "Are you feeling better?"
Bella nodded dumbly. This couldn't be happening. She had finally gotten what she wanted; the change, a mate, a trip to Italy. And it all had to be ruined by even more supernatural bullshit. If she wasn't so afraid of whether or not they'd kill her, she would be pissed. They were her mates, wouldn't they immediately have assured her that she wouldn't die? So far only Didyme had said anything of the sort and even then she didn't sound too convinced.
"Maybe I shouldn't go back?" She hadn't meant to say it out loud but the minute it slipped from her lips she'd wished she kept her mouth shut.
"If you leave then we'll only have to come after you," Sulpicia said. Sulpicia's eyes were deadly and her mouth set firmly in a scowl that made all thoughts of fleeing, flee from her mind. So maybe running wasn't the best idea but staying here didn't sound like too great of an option either.
"Bella it will be okay," Alice said. The psychic placed her hand on Bella's lower back and rubbed soft circles as they walked. The feeling nearly lulled Bella into the state of a walking zombie, it felt so nice to be comforted. If Alice was confident then she could be too. So distracted was she by the comfort of Alice that she failed to notice the looks the three queens were giving her.
They watched her from a distance, the two women in front of them with Jane leading the way. Bella was leaning heavily into the psychic's touch in a way that made Sulpicia's stomach coil into knots. When they finally reached the castle, Sulpicia was ready to send Alice back to the dungeons but the desperate look that Bella made when she opened her mouth to speak convinced her not to. She sent the two to Bella's chambers while she and her sisters retired to the war room. Each one looked and felt exhausted. They all collapsed in most undignified way into their respective places and remained silent for several minutes before Didyme broke.
"We won't kill her," Didyme said. "She is our mate."
Sulpicia let out a sigh. "Well of course we don't want to kill her but we can't take the option off the table. We are rulers. We have to think of our subjects first." She rubbed her temples roughly.
"If this leaks out into the masses, they will call for her death," Athenodora said. "You know this as well as I do. And her connection to the Cullens will only make her a large target for scrutiny. Obviously we won't kill her Didyme. But we have a lot to think about regarding our little Bella."
Didyme nodded and smiled slightly, feeling further relieved that at least her sisters were on the same page as her. "Then I see no problem. We keep Bella in the castle and do not tell anyone. Those who begin to grow suspicious can be taken care of, that is why we have Chelsea."
"I can't imagine Bella would be happy with that arrangement," Sulpicia said.
"We won't know until we talk to her," Didyme said. "You sent the poor girl off with the idea that she has only hours left of her life. I think she'd prefer being confined to the castle."
"I'd say she's probably being well distracted by that psychic of hers," Athenodora said. She tried to make it sound like it didn't bother her but grimace on her face proved otherwise. "We'll have to be cautious about that one."
"Alice and Bella are close," Didyme said recalling the bonds between the two. "Far closer than any of the others in her life and as of right now, their bond has had no diminishing effects on our own with Bella."
"We will need to keep an eye on it," Sulpicia said. She recalled the way Alice had reacted to Bella feeding off of her. The sexual energy had been palpable even if it hadn't been acted upon. "If Bella can't feed from anyone else, they will need to be supervised."
"Do you think she could feed on others?" Didyme asked.
"It is possible I suppose," Athenodora said picking up where Sulpicia began. "She is nearly four millennia descended from Deion. Her blood has been incredibly diluted."
"Perhaps we should call upon Carlisle," Didyme said.
"Perhaps," Athenodora said staring off into the distance. She was looking out the window as the clouds passed by. It was near dawn now and the sun was beginning to light the sky.
"There is another matter we need to deal with as well," Athenodora continued. "The little Cullen monstrosity needs to be put down."
"He will go to trial," Sulpicia said smiling at Athenodora. "And after that we will decide, with Bella, what to do with all of the Cullens. We now owe Alice for Bella's life."
"Jane," Sulpicia said, waving a hand at the door. "Retrieve the psychic and bring her here."
They waited in silence for several minutes before the door burst open and Alice marched in. The anger was evident in her face and the fact that she had nearly busted the doors off their hinges didn't help. She was seething. How dare they? How dare they leave Bella like that? Letting her think that they were going to kill her? What kind of mates were they?
Alice said all that and more to the queens before she finally calmed down enough for the queens to get a word in.
"My," Sulpicia said. "Quite brave aren't we dear? To barge into the den of royalty and insult them to their face, you must be quite angry?"
"How could I not be?" Alice huffed but had the decency to look sheepish. "You can't kill Bella."
"Why on Earth would we do that?" Didyme interjected. Alice looked at her like she'd grown three heads. "Bella is our mate. We are not going to kill her. That is not even an option."
"Yes, Didyme is right," Sulpicia added. "We are not going to kill Bella. We simply need to discuss the matter of her safety in private. If word gets out about who she is, there is no telling the sort of trouble that could come our way. The Romanians are waiting for a reason to question our leadership and this would give them reason to come out of the shadows."
Alice relaxed at this. Bella would be safe. Or at least Bella wouldn't be killed which for now was a good second. She smiled slightly at Sulpicia who gave her a knowing nod.
"The reason I called you here," Sulpicia said. "Is because I would like to know more about the vision you had while we were in the clearing. What did you see?"
Alice paused. This isn't what she'd been expecting. She hardly remembered that she'd had a vision at all because it had felt more like an instinct than anything else. She saw Bella laying on the ground, heaving in pain and instinct had told her she needed to get Bella to bite her. "I didn't really have a vision. I just acted."
"How did you know?" Athenodora said, an idea growing in her mind.
"I had a flash of a vision maybe," Alice said. They'd happened before; a shape or an action would pop through her mind as if only a passing thought and then it would play out in front of her. "I saw a flash of Bella biting into my wrist and the rest was just instinct."
"The complicated relationship of a maker and their Curséd," Athenodora said. "It seems there is more to this than we have yet seen."
Didyme rose from her seat and paced the room for a few second before turning to Alice, "when Bella saw you standing in the clearing, she asked if you were okay. She was already days deep in the change before the altercation between you and your brother happened. How did she know?"
Again Alice paused. She hadn't considered that. In fact, she hadn't even noticed. She was too concerned with Bella that she didn't think to question her reaction. "I don't know..."
Athenodora hummed in response. "You are dismissed Alice."
Alice turned to leave the room when she was stopped by Didyme. "Oh and one more thing. Should Bella need to feed again any time soon, please be advised to do so in our presence or at least with Jane. We wouldn't want there to be any incidents."
Alice didn't need to be a genius to pick up on the multiple meanings in Didyme's request, or rather, warning. They knew how she'd reacted when Bella had fed from her which meant her life was about to get much more difficult.
